“Four people have gone to heaven. I am the only one who is fresh now”… Park Young-gil, the oldest surviving director in the first year

“Now, am I the only fresh person left?”

Younggil Park (82). He was the manager of the Lotte Giants in the first year of the KBO. A corner of my heart is empty and sad at the news of the passing away of former manager Kim Young-deok, a veteran baseball player who shared the joys and sorrows of an era recently.

OB Bears were invited on the 21st of last month following the passing away of Samsung Lions’ first coach Seo Young-moo (1934-1987), Haitai Tigers’ first coach Kim Dong-yeop (1939-1997), and Sammi Superstars’ first coach Park Hyeon-shik (1929-2005). Head coach Kim Young-deok (1936-2023) also closed his eyes. Now, out of the six coaches of the first year of the KBO League, only two are still alive. This is Baek In-cheon (81), who was the first coach and player-manager of Park Young-gil and MBC Blue Dragon.

However, former coach Baek is currently in a situation where his movement is uncomfortable and his speech is difficult due to the aftereffects of a cerebral infarction. In fact, former manager Park Young-gil is the only coach in the first year who can vividly testify to the first year of professional baseball. Born in 1941, he is also the oldest surviving KBO first coach.

On the 5th, a day after Ipchun, we met at the main gate of the National Gugak High School near Director Park’s house in Gaepo-dong, Seoul. Director Park said, “A hot ecological bath is perfect for this kind of weather,” and led the reporter to a nearby ecological bath house.

◆ Achilles tendon rupture after overcoming rectal cancer

Chunraebulsachun (春來不似春). Spring has come, but it is not spring yet. The frigid weather, which ranged up and down 10 degrees below zero, has eased, but the wind at the end of winter is still cold. What is colder than the wind is the heart. In September of last year, the obituary of Lee Jae-hwan, former president of the first pitcher Lee Jae-hwan (originally MBC Blue Dragon pitching coach), who formed a battery with Baek In-cheon and Gyeongdong High School, and as soon as the year changed, the news of former manager Kim Young-deok’s death was delivered, leaving a corner of baseball fans cold. made.

“The ecological bath here is delicious. Today is Sunday, so there are few customers, but people line up for lunch on weekdays.”

The strong, stern voice was still there. Park Young-gil was a hard hitter who served as a national team player for 14 years from 1962 to 1975 and formed the national team’s center batting line with his motive, Kim Eung-yong. In the 1963 Asian Baseball Championship, when Korean baseball defeated Japan for the first time in history and won the championship, he was called ‘Jwa Young-gil-Woo Eung-yong’ and played an active role as a representative star of Korean baseball.

At the age of 30, when he heard the voice of an old man and retired, Park Young-gil had extraordinary skills and stamina to the extent that he was the longest running player until the age of 35. During his professional baseball days, he swept various batting titles and boasted his sophistication and long hitting power enough to share the home run title with Kim Eung-yong. In addition to his outstanding skills, he was also a top hitting theorist. In 1987, when he was coaching the Samsung Lions, he wrote the myth of a team batting average of 30% for the first time in KBO history. .

In fact, he is not in good health either. He has a history of undergoing colorectal cancer surgery in the past. Just a few years ago, he had a great body, but recently his face has lost a lot of weight. Age well past eighty. He couldn’t help but ask about health.

  • You’ve had rectal cancer surgery, right? Are you okay?

“I had surgery in 2010. It’s been over 10 years now, so it’s okay.”

  • You seem to enjoy eating something like this spicy ecological soup.

“It’s fine as long as it’s not raw. Now that my body has adapted to it, I can eat it regardless. But if I eat raw fish or raw food, I get diarrhea. I don’t have a job, so I can’t hold you. It’s embarrassing when you’re on the street and need to find a bathroom in a hurry. Other than that, it’s fine.” 토토사이트

  • He was limping while walking a moment ago.

“About 3-4 years ago, I went to Gangwon-do with my friends and got into a car accident on the way back. The car was standing in a blockage in the tunnel, and the car behind us didn’t keep an eye on it, so it ran straight ahead and crashed into our car. I was sitting in the back seat and my left leg got pushed under the seat in front of me. That’s when the Achilles tendon broke.”

  • Walking will be very uncomfortable.

“It’s inconvenient, but it’s enough to climb slowly and exercise in a nearby shallow mountain.”